Archive for May, 2011

Brenda and I climbed at Capitalist Crag. She was the rope gun for the day, leading Lunch Money (5.9+), Cheap Labor (5.10a), and Mounty (5.7+). We had a fun time. The weather flip flopped between bursts of bright sun and dark clouds with gusts of wind. We finished around 3pm. (more…)

On Sunday, I went to Canal Zone to climb with Jenny & Ryan. We met in the morning and had a lovely walk to the crag. We were the first to the moderates! Woo-hoo!
We climbed Box of Rain (5.8), Ripple (5.8), and Ryan did Made in the Shade (5.9). I just wanted to take it easy, and enjoy being with Jenny & Ryan. So, when the obnoxious crowds came later in the day, I just felt like leaving. Besides, it started getting hot-time to bail!

On Saturday, I joined my fellow co-workers at the 27th running of the Federal Cup. The race did not happen last year, due to road construction, so we were all pretty amped. Would we capture the Cup again, or would our Co-Ed team be beat by an all mens team (or all ladies team for that matter)?

Since I had been training for a marathon, now just a few weeks away, I figured I’d have a very competitive time. But, I must say, I did have some jitters about sprinting. The last thing I wanted to do was to get injured so close to my first marathon…(more…)

Our last full day in Scotland, we drove from Ft. William to Edinburgh. We bought groceries in a very large store on the outskirts of Perth. There are always a few edible items we want to bring home. This time, it was HP sauce, Branston Small Chunk Pickle, Candies, and Penguins.

We checked into the Scotsman Hotel, where they hooked us up with a free upgrade to the Baron Suite (2nd largest room in the hotel). We were overjoyed….

…Until later that night when the night club several floors down started playing their music. It was OBNOXIOUSLY loud and the floor was thumping in our room. We didn’t sleep a wink, which was the reason for staying at a de-lux hotel in the first place.

Lesson learned: if you are staying at the Scotsman, and they offer to upgrade your room, SAY NO! Unless you are tone deaf…

With the wind howling and a dark drizzle, we set off for Glencoe. It took about 30 minutes from Ft. William. It cost 12 pounds each to enter the visitor’s center.

There are three themes to the center: 1. The Massacre and 2. Rock Climbing and Mountaineering 3. The Environment. I thought they did a good job of covering all three topics. There were lots of hands on activities for kids as well. (more…)